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The Chewy Almond and Chocolate Sandwich cookies are perfect for Passover and year round.

One thing about baking for Passover is that you always have to be flexible about what you plan on making. From year to year, you never know which items will still be available, and if available, if you’ll be able to get them where you live, especially when you live in a one-kosher-store or no-kosher-store town. I thought it would be great to have a terrific, simple recipe that you could rely on when you simply couldn’t get some of those special baking items for Passover, such as matzo cake meal or potato starch. I had recently seen an article on French macarons (an almond sandwich cookie) and thought that this might exactly fit the bill for this go-to recipe I was looking for. I had previously created a chewy almond wafer, one that was much easier to make than a French macaron, but I had never used them in a sandwich cookie, so I knew this would be my starting point for this recipe. Create a pareve ganache, and I felt sure that I would have the perfect, simple but elegant Passover cookie.

For the ganache: Place 7 tablespoons of the creamer and sugar in a microwave-safe container, and heat on high for 30 seconds. Add the chocolate chips and microwave for 30 seconds on medium power (5). Stir the ganache until the chocolate is completely melted (don’t worry about tiny lumps or bubbles for this recipe). Let the chocolate stand for 1-2 hours until spreadable (or refrigerate, stirring occasionally until spreadable. It can be made a week in advance. Microwave it on medium power (5) in 10 second bursts until it is the spreading consistency you want. ). If the ganache is too thick to spread when it is at room temperature, heat the extra creamer and add it, 1 teaspoon at a time until the proper spreading consistency is reached. The exact amount of creamer to use will depend upon the chocolate used and the type ofcreamer.

Meanwhile, make the cookies:

PREHEAT OVEN TO 325degrees F. with a shelf in the middle of the oven. Place kosher parchment paper on cookie sheets.

Place the almonds, sugar and cinnamon in a processor bowl. Pulse on and off until the almonds are ground to a powder, about 15 three-second pulses. Add the egg whites and pulse until the mixture forms a soft paste, about 5 three-second pulses. Scrape the paste into a bowl and let it rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

Spoon a slightly rounded measuring teaspoonful of batter onto the cookie sheets, leaving 1-1/2-inches between cookies to allow for spreading.

Bake the cookies for 10-13 minutes, until just barely coloring on the edges. The object is for the cookies to be soft and chewy, so don’t overbake them. As soon as the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and slide the parchment paper onto a cooling rack, so the cookies don’t continue to cook on the hot pan.

When the cookies are completely cool, mate up cookies of the same size, spread 1 flat side, generously (a scant 1/8 inch), with ganache. Top with the second cookie.

Optional Decorations: Almond Decoration – Dab a tiny amount of chocolate onto the bottom back of two almond slices. Set them on the cookie in a leaf design.

Drizzle – Gently drizzle the cookies with melted chocolate

Let the cookies rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving (otherwise the ganache will be too soft and will squish out), or up to 1 day. For longer storage, place the cookies in the refrigerator for a day, or freezer them for up to 3 months. Bring the cookies to room temperature for at least an hour before serving them, so that the ganache can soften.